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Unipart Dome

Inflate’s 25m-long temporary dome for Unipart was to be used in the summer months as an exhibition tent, initially at Goodwood Festival of Speed. We designed the support structure that would allow the low pressure double-skinned inflatable to retain its shape in high wind.

Restricted access to the site meant that the structure needed to fit into the back of transit vans to be transported, and once on site would be erected without any specialist equipment.

The solution to this tricky brief was to support the dome with one arch at each end, and a large central arch through the middle. The central arch was crucial as the inflated skin couldn’t support itself over such a span in anything but the lightest wind.

The arch was transported to site in neat pieces, bolted together and then winched into place by two vans just two days before the exhibitors arrived. To ensure stability base anchors were rigidly connected to the ground with a bespoke double pin, designed to pivot about the base in either direction and locked when vertical.

The structure won a Design Week Award for Temporary Exhibition Structures, and returned to Goodwood Festival the following year.